Dislodged Rock — Falling Rock

Colorado, Shelf Road

Accident Reports

Accident Year: 2011

Publication Year: 2012

I was belaying my partner on January 16. We were climbing a new route not in the guidebook when he kicked off a baseball-sized rock from approximately 60 feet up. It made a direct hit, striking the center of my skull! Luckily I was wearing a helmet. We recognized the potential for loose rock before getting on the climb.

Analysis

My partner and I were the only climbers wearing helmets all weekend. It’s your choice not to wear one. Personally I’m happy to wear one, even for casual, one-pitch sport-cragging. Head injuries can be very serious and I’d like to avoid them. If you don’t own one or don’t wear the one you have, maybe you should consider it. (Source: Ryan Kane from a post on Mountainproject.com.)

Dislodged Rock — Falling Rock

Colorado, Shelf Road

I was belaying my partner on January 16. We were climbing a new route not in the guidebook when he kicked off a baseball-sized rock from approximately 60 feet up. It made a direct hit, striking the center of my skull! Luckily I was wearing a helmet. We recognized the potential for loose rock before getting on the climb.

Analysis

My partner and I were the only climbers wearing helmets all weekend. It’s your choice not to wear one. Personally I’m happy to wear one, even for casual, one-pitch sport-cragging. Head injuries can be very serious and I’d like to avoid them. If you don’t own one or don’t wear the one you have, maybe you should consider it. (Source: Ryan Kane from a post on Mountainproject.com.)

This ANAM article has been reformatted into HTML. Please contact us if you spot an error.